Teaching

"Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. Matt. 10:11 (NKJV)

Jesus didn't have "holier-than-thou" attitude, even though he was. He mixed with prostitutes, pimps and priests alike. But when it came to dispatching his apostles on their mission, he had specific instructions for them. These instructions reflect some power principles, one of which is the principle of associating with worthy people.

We all can have many casual acquaintances. I have over 1,000 names and addresses in my Address Book alone! I may even end up doing fun things together with some of them, share in similar experiences and like the same style of music. This doesn't qualify them automatically as someone I can associate with when it comes to my mission.

To succeed in your mission, you need to associate with worthy people. But first of all, you yourself need to be a worthy person.

It's scary how many so-called Christians float around our churches and at the same time fornicate, lie, steal, gossip, are hateful, hypocritical, lack work ethic and so on.

We all make mistakes. We all occasionally do something we need to repent of later. The born-again part of you is your spirit, not your mind, will and emotions. We therefore have many born-again Christians who are foolish, stubborn and emotionally unstable. They need help. Some of them get it and become better people, some don't. They choose to blame everything and everyone for who they are, what they do and most importantly for who they will never become and the things they will never achieve. They end up being not suitable and dependable when it comes to getting something serious done.

You can't possibly be one of them and expect to be counted among the "worthy" people I am talking about.

You don't have to be flawless as a Christian, but you must be and you can be a worthy person.

According to the Greek Concordance the word worthy is the Greek word "axios", which means: deserving, comparable or suitable (as if drawing praise). We all tend to judge other people by their actions, but ourselves according to our intentions. However, to be counted as worthy, you need to have deserved it in one way or another; you must have some track record as someone who has done something that reveals who you are internally.

You must be comparable to something or someone we all all recognize as good and noble. And finally, you and I must be suitable when it comes to being entrusted with something significant, whether it's a position, money, influence, etc.

John the Baptist called on people to bring fruits "worthy" of repentance, or to put in today's language: to be real!

Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance. Matt. 3:8 (NKJV)

The prodigal son realized he was no longer worthy to be called a son:

"and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." Luke 15:19 (NKJV)

When it comes to committing yourself in a significant way to someone, whether it's potentially a marital relationship, covenant relationship in ministry, a friendship or even a business partnership--are you a worthy person and are you looking for those who are worthy to commit yourself to?

In this day and hour you can't trust people only because they say they are Christians. You need to examine their track record and see if they are a worthy person. That's how you're going to succeed in your mission and that's how you're going to leave a legacy for the generations worth emulating.

George Bakalov (c) 2009 George P. Bakalov